The minute the weather drops below 80 degrees, its pumpkin spice/apple pie/ red wine/ (insert fave fall ingredient) season for me. I love fall. There’s something about not sweating my a$$ off that makes me want to turn on the oven and cook up a storm, while wearing a cozy giant flannel. This dish is my fall kickoff meal and I think you’re going to love it.
Let’s talk about this dish. It reminds me of what I used to order at farm to table restaurants when they would debut their fall harvest menus. A hearty short rib braised in red wine, paired with a root vegetable and a splash of color or another fall flavor. For my version, I decided to add pomegranate juice to my red wine braising liquid (this adds a nice pop of tart fruitiness that pairs beautifully with the beefy meat) and then I paired it with simple roasted rainbow carrots that are topped with parsley, goat cheese and more pomegranate seeds. I mean, pomegranates are in season so let’s do it up!!!
Meat:
I tested this recipe with boneless and bone-in short ribs. I think it’s more elegant to use boneless here, but bone-in actually end up being a bit more tender, due to the fat content. They also fall right off the bone, so they end up being served as smaller boneless short ribs (as seen above.) Choose whatever you want here, but if you choose boneless, make sure you do not over-sear them in the beginning of this recipe as they will end up dry and tough. Boneless short ribs tend to be thinner than bone-in, so that’s why its important not to over-sear. You can see how I did it in my YouTube video, which I linked at the top of this blog post. I go through the whole recipe from start to finish.
Cooking method:
I used a classic dutch oven for this recipe (linking some of my faves below.) However, if you don’t have a dutch oven, feel free to do all your searing and sauté work in a skillet and then deglaze with a bit of the liquid, then transfer all of it to a slow cooker. If you use a slow cooker, you can cook on high for 3-4 hours, or you can cook on low for 6 hours or so. If you have a multi-cooker (such as the instant pot) you can also use that as your slow cooker. There should be a slow cook function!
As always, if you have any other cooking questions and they aren’t answered in my YouTube video, please feel free to DM me on Instagram!!! I am always here to help as much as I can. Now let’s get cooking!
Red Wine Pomegranate Braised Short Ribs with Rainbow Carrots
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb boneless short ribs get 2-2.5 lb for bone-in (the bones weigh a lot!)
- Kosher salt to have on hand to use for seasoning
- Olive or avocado oil for pan
- Freshly cracked black pepper to have on hand to use for seasoning
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 white onion diced
- 1 1/2 cup celery diced
- 1 1/4 cup red wine
- 1 1/4 cup pomegranate juice
- 1 1/2 cup beef broth
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tsp dried rosemary or 1 whole sprig of fresh rosemary
Rainbow carrots with pomegranate, parsley and goat cheese
- 10 rainbow carrots sliced vertically in half, with stems on if they came with stems
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- Fresh parsley to taste, for topping
- Goat cheese to taste, for topping
- Pomegranate seeds to taste, for topping
Equipment
- Dutch oven
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Heat a dutch oven over high heat.
- As the pan gets hot, lay the meat on a paper towel, and dry it sufficiently with another paper towel. Season with salt and pepper on both sides.
- Season the dutch oven with some oil and wait for it to shimmer. It shouldn't be smoky, but a little whisper of smoke is fine.
- Add the dried-off meat to the pan and sear until golden brown on all sides, about 2-3 minutes per side. You do not want to overcook the meat, so watch it closely and remove once it's caramelized. Transfer the short ribs to a plate. Pour out all but 2 tablespoons of drippings. Make sure all golden brown bits (AKA fond) are still on the bottom of the pot. Incase you're curious: you don't want this to be fat, oily overload, so that's why you're getting rid of any excess drippings that would overpower the dish.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add the onion. Sauté until slightly softened and caramelized, about 5 minutes. Then, add the celery and garlic. Season with a generous pinch of salt. Sauté for another 2-3 minutes until the garlic is fragrant and the celery and slightly tender.
- Add the red wine, pomegranate juice and beef broth. Use a wooden spoon to scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pan, so it combines with the liquid. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat to let it simmer for 3-4 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to low. Add the rosemary and a bay leaf. Then, add the meat back into the mixture and submerge it as much as possible into the liquid. If more than the top of the short ribs are not covered by liquid, feel free to add more beef broth until they are fully covered. If making bone-in short ribs, place the meat down, so the bone is facing up. Once the meat is submerged, place the lid onto the dutch oven.
- Transfer the dutch oven to your preheated oven and let them cook for 3 1/2 hours. Remove them from the heat after 3 hours and if they easily fall apart when touched with a fork, then they are done. If they don't, put them back in the oven for another 30 minutes or so.
- Once the short ribs are done, remove them from the heat and serve! They will stay warm and tender in the dutch oven for up to 45 minutes. If you want to serve with the roasted carrots, recipe is below.
Roasted Rainbow Carrots with Pomegranate, Parsley and Goat Cheese
- Adjust the oven temperature to 450 degrees F. (You can make these right after the short ribs are done cooking as they will stay warm in the dutch oven.)
- Toss the sliced carrots in a bowl with the olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.
- Lay the carrot slices flat on a sheet pan and roast for 15-20 minutes, until soft and golden brown on the outside.
- Plate the carrots and top with parsley, pomegranate seeds and goat cheese. Add the short rib on top. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Rate & Review
WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THIS RECIPE?
This dish sounded scary, hard to make, couldn’t be done, but boy were all those thoughts wrong. This was so flavorful and EASY to make, the hardest part was waiting the 3.5 hours while it was in the oven and smelling how good the dish was before even trying it! I used bone in short ribs and when I took the Dutch oven out of the oven and opened it, the meat was already off the bone. The meat was so tender and juicy and the mix of simple roasted carrots with the pop of pomegranate seeds and the creaminess of goat cheese was a flavor combo I didn’t know I needed. I definitely will be making this again!
I had no idea I could whip something up SO delicious and seemingly complicated, and execute it perfectly…. I watched your video and followed all the steps and I have to just say thank you for helping me unleash my inner home cook that I didn’t even know existed?!?! I must make these again!! Please come out with more braised meat recipes!
I have made this so many times and it impresses everyone!! It’s so easy! The only tough part is the cook time but making it is such a breeze. Next time you have people over you have to make it!